


flirting and glowing caves

by orphan_account



Series: when the water stills [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Human Allura, Merman Shiro, mentions of how shiro lost his arm, merman Keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-15 05:57:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11799849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “He likes you too, you know.” Lance thinks maybe Allura will try and deny it, but to his surprise, she simply nods quietly.“I pay far too much attention to not know.”





	flirting and glowing caves

**Author's Note:**

> finally had the motivation to continue the mer au i wrote a while back, so hopefully you enjoy! this was fun to write as well, and i liked adding a couple more characters into the mix

Keith could tell Shiro was really angry this time. His tail was swishing back and forth with reckless abandon, kicking up sand into the water around them and occasionally thumping against the coral couch behind him.

“You can’t keep going out like this, Keith. You know how dangerous the surface can be.” Keith noticed him subconsciously clenching and unclenching his right arm, now made of carefully crafted seaweed and bonded to him by the magic of his people. Keith looked down in shame, knowing that Shiro was only looking out for him, after all. The humans had taken Shiro’s arm, and half of his scales too, he knew the dangers humans posed. He had barely escaped with his life.

“I’m sorry Shiro. It won’t happen again.” Keith’s tail curled behind him, a show of sorrow and submission. Shiro sighed and pinched his nose, right above the mottled scar. 

“That’s what you said the last few times, and yet you still went back! What are you even doing up there?” It was starting to become difficult to see Shiro, with how mottled the water was with sand.

“I’m just visiting someone…” Keith mumbled, fidgeting with a small bracelet on his wrist and not daring to look up at Shiro. “She’s not dangerous at all, I promise. We’re friends and she’d never hurt me.” A dazzling smile and mountains of white hair flashed before Keith’s eyes. He desperately hoped this conversation would end well so he could see her again. Shiro let out another sigh, this one more tired than frustrated. 

“I suppose I haven’t been able to stop you before. You’re not a guppy anymore.” At this point the older mer sounds resigned, and when Keith finally looks up at him again, he’s met with an expression that’s oddly proud, if not slightly disappointed. “At least be try and be safe when you visit the surface. And that includes looking both ways before you cross a current.” Keith huffs and crosses his arms, pouting petulantly.

“C’mon Shiro, you know I’m fast enough to cross currents without getting caught in them.” Shiro’s chuckling now; they’ve had this conversation far more than Keith thinks is necessary, considering he’s “not a guppy” anymore. “Can I go now?” Keith looks to Shiro with hopeful eyes. He heaves a longsuffering sigh and nods in disbelief.

“Fine, you can go. But be back before moonrise understand?” Keith huffs again, kicking his tail in nervous anticipation. 

“Yes _dad_ , I’ll be back before moonrise. And I’ll even bring back some of that gross kelp for you to make your sandwiches with.” Shiro lets out a chuckle and waves Keith off, but he’s already far out into the ocean, tail flicking swiftly as he makes his way to the beach. 

 

* * *

 

 

“ _Allurrrrraaaaa!_ Come on! Why’d you bring me out here?”

“I’ve already told you Lance, it’s a surprise!” Allura splashes some water at Lance as they walk along the beach together. He squawks and splashes back, and for a while they just splash one another, until Lance calls a truce because he’s _clearly_ outmatched (he doesn’t know that Allura’s had plenty of practice with Keith, or else he’d cry foul).

It took a lot of heckling on Allura’s part, but she’d finally managed to convince Keith to allow her to bring along a friend to see him. He’d staunchly refused for a while, on the basis that he thought any other human would let out his secret. But Allura assured him that her friend was trustworthy, and eventually Keith relented, as long as Allura only brought _one_ friend. He didn’t do well with merpeople as it was, so more than two humans would likely overwhelm him.

“Allura you realize how shady this is right? You’re bringing me to an abandoned side of the beach, all alone.” Lance pauses his walking to put a hand on his hip in a show of sass. “How do I know you’re not going to kill me when we get to whatever “secret” you’re trying to show me?” Allura let out a twinkling laugh, bracing herself briefly so she wouldn’t fall down.

“Oh Lance, if I had wanted to kill at any point, I would have already done it.” She grins at him, and laughs again when his face pales and he kicks sand at her, screaming about how “that’s not funny!” They make their way down the beach again until they finally reach the small alcove on the cliff side.

“If this little pool is this surprise you wanted to show me I’ll leave you here, Allura.” Lance looks at the small area Allura has spent hours in, scanning it for anything out of the ordinary. He raises a brow and turns to Allura expectantly. “So? Do I have to leave you here or what?” Allura rolls her eyes at him and settles down on her usual spot at the edge of the water.

“Don’t worry Lance, I wouldn’t bring here just for a little pool.” She turns to the water and scans it carefully, before calling out. “Keith, are you here?” Lance looks at Allura, perplexed, but waits patiently. Allura calls a few more times before a familiar dark head of hair pops up out of the water, similar to how they first met. Lance narrows his eyes and scoffs, turning to Allura.

“Did you just bring me here to meet a friend of yours? You coulda’ just said so.” Keith eyes Lance warily, and Allura laughs lightly, shaking her head. She motions for Keith to come closer and turns to Lance.

“No Lance, look closer.” Allura smiles as Lance rolls his eyes and leans closer over the edge, staring at Keith intently. The three of them are silent as he studies Keith, until he suddenly lets out an unearthly squeal. Lance begins pointing and gesturing wildly towards Keith, whose tail was now reflecting the small amount of light that was filtering in. His mouth kept falling open, but no words seemed to come out. Allura watched on in amusement, sharing a look with Keith, who seemed exasperated at Lance’s display. Finally, he managed to splutter out a few coherent words.

“Allura?! He-he’s a? Mermaid???” Lance’s eyes are wide and he hasn’t stopped gesturing at Keith. He runs a hand through his hair and takes a deep breath. Allura chuckles at his state of disarray.

“I believe merman would be the correct term, but yes, he is.” Lance continues to flail around as Keith watches him confusedly. He turns to Allura with concern on his face, mouthing “is he okay?” She covers her mouth to stifle a giggle and shrugs. 

She pats the rock next to her, inviting Keith to join her in his usual spot. He approaches slower than usual, eyeing Lance, who has yet to fully recover his grasp on human language. Keith eventually makes his way to the rock and hefts himself up, settling next to Allura like second nature. Lance lets out a small gasp, staring at Keith’s tail unabashedly. Keith seems to whither a bit under Lance’s gaze, not used to the attention, but Allura places a hand on his shoulder reassuringly and he relaxes a bit. Lance seems to recover from from his initial shock and a smirk finds its way onto his face, and before Allura can stop him he’s leaning over to pin Keith with a sultry gaze.

“I know Allura said you were a merman, but I think you’re a siren, because I am just _enchanted_ by your beauty.” He winks at Keith, who sits stunned for several moments before splashing Lance with his tail. Allura giggles at the pair, despite Keith’s grumbling next to her.

“While he may not be a siren, I must agree that Keith is beautiful.” A coy smile curls her lips as Keith whirls around to stare at her, a red blush rising on his face to match his scales. He blinks in disbelief, growing more flustered the longer he stares at Allura, who matches his stare with a playful smile, though she can feel her own cheeks warming.

“I’m- you- I???” Keith continues to try and get out any kind of sentence until he gives up and turns away to look in his lap, concentrating on his hands, which are fidgeting with his bracelet again. Allura had given it to him a while back when she noticed how much he would fidget with his hands, and he hadn’t taken it off since. After a moment he managed to mumble out a small “thank you,” his eyes still firmly trained on his lap.

Having recovered from being splashed, Lance watches the both of them, Keith considerably more flustered than Allura, but both blushing and affected by the encounter. A wry smile finds its way on his face, and he trots over to slip next to Allura on the rock face.

“So how did you two meet?” Lance keeps his tone light and aloof, hoping to gauge the situation properly, but if the state of Allura and Keith is anything to go by, he thinks he knows what’s going on. Allura clears her throat lightly and turns to Lance with a smile.

“Well he asked to braid my hair.” Lance sits for a moment, waiting for her to to elaborate in some way, but her smile just grows until she’s chuckling lightly and Lance couldn’t be more confused.

“Is that it, he just asked to braid your hair and now you’re all buddy-buddy?” By now Keith is laughing too, ignoring Lance who begins glaring at both of them. “Come on, there has to be more to the story than that!” He throws his hands up in exasperation, grumbling about how Allura doesn’t know how to tell a story well, and how “that’s not romantic at all Allura.” The two companions seem more occupied laughing at him so they don’t catch it, but Lance thinks it’s probably better that way.

 

* * *

 

 

There were several other occasions where Allura brought Lance to visit Keith, though each visit became progressively more embarrassing for her. Lance seemed to take it upon himself to impress upon Keith how _wonderful_ and _amazing_ Allura is, come one Keith don’t you think so too? He always seemed to agree absently, as if confused that Lance would point out something so obvious.

Belatedly Allura realizes Lance was trying to act as some sort of wing man, if terribly so. He admits as much one afternoon as they kick at the sand together, stopping every few moments so Lance can pick up a shell or some pretty rock. They had just been with Keith, and Allura was spared no more embarrassment than usual. Lance sidles up next to her after a long stretch of silence.

“You like him, don’t you?” Allura stops abruptly, her toes digging into the sand as she stares at Lance, a flush already present on her face. “And don’t even try and deny it,” he continues, waving a shell at Allura in a vaguely admonishing manner. “I know you like to hide how you’re _really_ feeling all the time, but I can see right through you when you’re with him.” Allura sighs and keeps walking, kicking sand as she goes.

“I _do_ like him, I suppose.” Her brow wrinkles in thought, and Lance gives her a minute to gather her thoughts. “But what if he does not feel the same way? We are not even the same species, Lance.” She stops again, staring out at the ocean as if it held some solution to her problems. “Besides, I would not even know how to approach the subject…” Allura lets out a dejected sigh, turning to Lance. He smiles slightly and shakes his head in disbelief. 

“You know, you’re usually so confident. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re _neeeervoooous_.” There’s a sing-song lilt to his voice as he pushes Allura playfully. She scowls but there’s amusement in her eyes. “He likes you too, you know.” Lance thinks maybe Allura will try and deny it, but to his surprise, she simply nods quietly.

“I pay far too much attention to _not_ know.”

 

* * *

 

It’s late in the evening and they’re perched on the rocks together, gazing at the stars like usual, when Keith suddenly slips back into the water. Allura glances down at him, eyes questioning, but he simply motions for her to drop into the water with him. She follows, only rolling her eyes slightly at his aloof behavior. They swim silently as Keith leads Allura out of their small alcove and along the cliff side.

The moon shines brightly above them, reflecting off the water and making the ocean seem picturesque. Allura pauses to gaze out along the blue expanse, admiring its beauty. She feels a tug on her hand and looks to see Keith, eyes sparkling, not urgent but earnest in his attempts to get her to follow him again. There’s something in his expression that says he knows more than she does, so Allura follows again, a certain excitement bubbling under her skin. 

Eventually they come to a cave, and Keith pulls Allura further in, away from the glow of the moon until it’s almost pitch black. She grips his hand a little tighter.

“Where are we, Keith?” Allura's voice is barely above a whisper, but all too loud at the same time. She feels a cold finger press to her lips, and she meets Keith’s eyes, which seem to glow slightly despite the darkness. Allura nods wordlessly, keeping quiet at his request. She tries to glean anything from her surroundings, but it’s too dark to see anything of note. They float together just long enough for Allura to wonder why Keith brought her into this cave, only stopping the question from forming when she gasps.

All around them, the cave is slowly filling with light. The sides of the cave are covered in a moss-like substance that’s gradually growing brighter the longer they float there. In the water, fish of various sizes swim around them, now glowing brightly as they flit around the cave.

Allura takes it all in, in awe of how beautiful the cave is now, full of light and life. She turns to Keith, who’s watching her with a soft smile, something small and full of fondness. They’re close, she realizes, closer than they’ve ever been before, floating together in a glowing cave, like something out of a fantasy world. Allura lets out a happy sigh and leans forward, closing her eyes and touching their foreheads together.

“Thank you for showing me this…it’s beautiful.” She opens her eyes and gazes at Keith, who’s staring at her intently, with an expression unlike any other she’s seen.

“Not as beautiful as you.” He whispers, bringing a hand up to cup Allura’s face gently. She immediately leans into the touch, smiling gently. They drift closer together, and Allura can faintly feel Keith’s tail swaying back and forth under the water. Keith’s eyes are brighter now, reflecting the light all around them, and Allura loses herself in them unashamedly, holding his gaze unyieldingly.

It’s unclear who leans in first, but all at once they’re kissing, a soft press of their lips, sweet and perhaps a bit salty, but altogether wonderful. There had been many times when some human convention had passed right over Keith’s head, but this one seems to be familiar to him, if the way he gently cradles Allura’s face and kisses back eagerly is any indication.

They separate briefly, Keith looking dazed and a tad bit overwhelmed, but that doesn’t stop him from claiming Allura’s lips again, unbothered by the smile that grows on her face as he tries to kiss her again. They spend what feels like an eternity like that, trading kisses and soft looks under the the glow of the cave life, content with one another.

And if Allura’s hands and feet are a bit pruney when she finally leaves the water that night, she doesn’t mind one bit.

**Author's Note:**

> I ended up looking up the strength of seaweed for Shiro's arm and apparently people have started using it to make bricks and shit for construction 
> 
> thank u for reading, comments and kudos are appreciated :3


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